


Curveball

by brokenhighways



Category: Hit the Floor (TV)
Genre: Babies, Family, Fatherhood, Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 12:14:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15751464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenhighways/pseuds/brokenhighways
Summary: Zero, former womanizer, notorious selfish bastard, sexiest baller of the Devils, who got caught up with his pants down with prostitutes, wants to have a baby. And his adorable, gentle, down-to-earth husband doesn’t





	Curveball

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on a prompt from one of the comment!fests over @ Team Zude. It's also my first kid!fic in forever so be gentle with me, lol. 
> 
> I'm low-key annoyed with how the show handled the Zero situation, so here's some future fic for you. Hope you like!

See, here's the thing. Kids have never really been in Zero's plan for himself. The plan was always to become a star, rise to the top of his game and stay there.

That plan fell out of the window the second he met Jude.

They've been married for two years and he's still not sure how it happened. What he does know is that he doesn't regret a single moment of it. 

It's just that...there's something missing. 

He looks at his teammates and the ones around his age all have commitments; wives, kids, family. The younger ones are catching up. It leaves a hollow feeling in his stomach. 

Whenever they go to the hottest bars and restaurants, he doesn't feel the buzz he used to. 

Just emptiness. 

It's that feeling that leads to him to a natural conclusion. 

“You want a baby. With me. An honest to God  _ baby _ ?” 

Jude's in the midst of a large amount of paperwork as per usual and Zero's finally managed to get his attention. 

“Yeah. I'm close to retirement and you've more than cemented your role in the team hierarchy. It's a good time for us to think about our next step.”

Jude purses his lips and clicks his pen shut.From those actions alone, Zero knows that this is going to be an uphill battle. 

“You're thirty-three. That's nowhere _near_ retirement. You can play for another five years _minimum_. Not to mention that you'll be flying across the country each season, I'll be busy running the team. Who would look after this baby?”

Zero's response is an owlish blink. He hasn't thought about that. Still, it's what he wants; a family. They can hire a nanny, or get a babysitter. It's not impossible. 

“I don't want kids, Gideon, I... I…Look, I know that we spoke about it, but, my father wasn't around. He was busy with this team. The same way I am. I don't want to be an absentee father. I don't want to resent you because you end up being one.”

“You would never make the same choices that Oscar did. I definitely wouldn't. Not when I saw how much it affected you.”

Jude scoffs and leans back in his chair. “You and I both know that's not true.”

Zero doesn't have a comeback for that. 

~

Zero lets it drop until he finds himself flipping through an old magazine at his dentist's office. There's a wall full of covers of Dr Shapiro's clients, including one with him. If he's being honest, it doesn't really add to the décor. 

He laughs to himself and goes back to the old magazine. There's a ten page spread of Derek and Ahsha Roman’s twin daughters, Rosè and Chardonnay. He lets his gaze linger on the glossy pages for moment before he tosses the magazine away. 

He calls his agent. 

~

Shirley is an old-school woman who somehow ended up in the agency business. After the fiasco with Lucas (who fucked Jude over) and Frederica (who wanted to get into Zero's pants) he let Jude deal with his representation. Zero has a hunch that Jude picked someone who he wouldn't be attracted to, but if he's being honest, she's still got it. Even after having four kids. 

He figures that she's the perfect person to discuss this with. 

“No, no, no and no. A baby? Look, you got good press when you came out, good press when you got married. Are you ready for the scrutiny a baby would bring?”

Once again, Zero hasn't thought about that. 

“I don't care about scrutiny, I just...It would be nice, you know.”

Shirley folds her arms and leans back on the couch. 

“Zero, what happened to your silver Aston Martin? The DB9, if I recall correctly. The one we advised you  _ not  _ to buy.”

Zero doesn't like the direction this conversation is headed but he plays along. 

“Uh, I stopped driving it.”

Shirley places her hands on her hips. “And why was that?”

Zero snorts. “Cuz I was bored of it.”

Shirley nods emphatically. “To think that you  _ raved  _ about that car for months only to treat it like a cheap hooker you met at the Bellagio. Damn shame.”

Her disapproval rings loud and clear and he's thankful when she changes the subject. 

~

Zero decides to forget about it. 

He tells himself that he's just feeling broody because he's getting older and everyone around him has kids. It's not like he had the best upbringing. What could he offer a child anyway? A lifetime of complexes? An unhealthy obsession with bleaching their hair? 

“Have you been listening to a word that I said?”

Zero blinks and realises that Lionel is sitting in their kitchen. 

He gives her a wry smile. “Do I  _ ever  _ listen?”

Lionel takes a sip of her wine. “Look, I'm here because Jude told me you wanted to have a baby.”

Of course she is.

Zero rolls his eyes. “Is there anything he  _ doesn't  _ tell you?” 

“Anyway, yeah, he wanted me to talk some sense into you, but something tells me that's not going to happen. You know, Pete and I thought we wanted kids and then our marriage crumbled before I knew what was happening. The funny thing is that in the end one of our  _ common goals  _ was not wanting kids.”

“What's your point?” Zero  _ could  _ point out the contradiction, but it's Lionel. 

She's a walking contradiction.

“People change. You just have to decide what's important to you.”

“Jude’s important to me.” 

Lionel raises an eyebrow. “Sometimes things like that don't matter when it comes to pursuing what  _ you _ want.”

~

There's never any harm in doing research. That's the logic Zero uses to justify looking up the adoption process and surrogacy. He's weighing up the pros and cons of adopting an older kid as opposed to having a baby when a dark shadows looms over him. 

“You're serious about this.”

Jude doesn't seem upset, just wistful. Like he's never once considered that Zero genuinely wants to have a kid.

“Yeah,” Zero answers honestly. “I just feel like this something I  _ need _ to do.”

The pronoun choice is deliberate, because he's considered a lot of things. Having a child would be easier with Jude, but…

Jude's frown is an unhappy one. “I'm still Team Zero. I'm just not sure that you've thought this through.”

Zero's laugh is breathy and quiet. All he's done is think. Think about how crazy this is, and yet, how it's all that he wants. 

“We both had messed up childhoods, but we're here. We made it, Jude and, I don't know, maybe we can be better parents than ours ever were.”

Zero barely remembers his mom. When he pictures her, all he sees is brown hair flowing in the wind and there's a lingering scent of tobacco and weed. His father is an even more vague memory. A blur that's never had a face. 

Laura…

Maybe that's what this is about. After months of deliberation, he'd called the number in the file. She picked up after three rings, listened to him patiently before letting him know that she didn't want to be reminded of the past.

That included having any kind of relationship with him. 

It's been three months and he's never once shared that with Jude. 

“Zero, six months ago you wanted me to get you an all access pass to the Playboy Mansion. Now, you want to have kids. Help me out here. What happened?”

“Hey, that was for  _ networking  _ purposes.” 

Jude's eyes narrow. “ _ Gideon. _ ”

Zero rolls his eyes. “Fine. I called Laura and she wants nothing to do with me. Apparently, reconnecting would be too hard on her. She's got a family now and... she's happy. At first, I thought that was a slight on me, but…”

Jude nudges his shoulder. “But…”

Zero laughs shakily. “... but, maybe it's for the best. It got me thinking that I want that too. Family. With you.”

Jude is quiet for a long time before he inhales and exhales gently. 

“I'll think about it, okay?”

That's all Zero can ask for. 

~

A year after Zero and Jude got married, he made a friend. 

Well, he  _ reconnected  _ with an old friend who relocated to LA. 

Jonathan is a fitness trainer with two daughters and an ex-wife.

Sometimes, Zero doesn't get how he screwed everything up. The perfect family. Two kids and picket fence. 

“Dude, you and Jude have it  _ made _ .” 

That's  _ always  _ Jonathan's take on things. He seems to relish in the bachelor lifestyle. Streams of girls leaving and entering his apartment, clubbing every other day. 

Zero doesn't know where he gets the energy.

“So, you're so saying that if you could do it all again, you wouldn't get married? You wouldn't have kids?”

Jonathan's smile fades and he starts to pick at the label on his beer bottle. 

“I love my girls to death. I'd never change anything, Zero. Look, you can ask as many people as you want and they'll tell you different things. If this is what you want to do - go for it. Only a foolish man regrets his blessings.”

~

Jude doesn't bring up the topic for another two weeks. Zero takes his lead and falls back. He focuses on the team and his captain duties. He tries to push down the emotions he has, but every now and then they bubble over the surface. 

He's close to breaking point when Jude finally broaches the subject during their weekly movie night. 

Just another domestic thing that Zero loves unapologetically. 

“All my life, I wanted a sibling,” Jude starts. “Someone to hang out with, talk to... do stuff with. Being an only child is all fun and games until you become this burden. 

“Oscar wanted nothing to do with me and my mom...she was always  _ struggling _ …but... I definitely think that we'd be  _ way  _ better fathers than ours were.”

The words don't register at first but when they do, Zero is frozen in place. 

“Does that mean….”

The grin on Jude's face starts off small before it widens. 

“I want to have a baby with you.”

~

The process is slow to begin with. They decide to adopt and have to fill in what seems like a mountain of paperwork. There are checks upon checks and that's even with their significant wealth bankrolling the entire process. 

Zero plays through half a season before they finally get somewhere. 

The baby is three months old, and the mother is a fifteen year old who's given her up. 

They name her Leah (Jude doesn't really appreciate it when Zero suggests that they take a leaf out of Derek Roman’s book and call her Piña Colada). 

~

The first week is  _ torture.  _

Zero's running around trying to make sure he's got everything for his flight to Boston. He's moody because Boston reminds him of Laura and--

\--a loud gurgle knocks him out of his thoughts. All of the books, YouTube videos and classes haven't fully prepared him for this. 

_ Fatherhood.  _

He drops his items and makes his way over to the where Leah is resting on the table. She's in her seat, fingers scratching at thin air as she pulls faces at her surroundings. She's wearing a pink baby gro and a white bonnet with a pineapple on it (apparently Jude  _ does _ have a sense of humour after all).

“What's up, baby?” Zero says soothing, before he reaches down to pick her up. She smells soft and warm, like talcum powder and something else that he can't name. “You gonna miss me, huh?”

“We both are.”

Jude's standing in the doorway with his arms folded. 

He's been sullen ever since they realised that Zero would be away for the first weekend. 

There have been arguments. 

_ We said that we'd do this together.  _

Zero's not sure what the problem is and he doesn't bother to ask. They both knew that this would be a possibility and they talked about it. Jude said he'd be okay with it. 

“Is it weird that it's only been a week but I can't imagine life without her?”

Something changes in Jude's eyes, but Zero can't make it out. 

He turns back to Leah and smiles down at her. There's this amused glint in her blue eyes that he adores. 

He realises that he's going to  _ miss _ her when he's gone.

He ends up calling Jude twelve times over the weekend. 

~

They've had Leah for two months when Zero realises that something is off between him and Jude.

He'd managed to put up a good front during the inspection from the adoption agencies, but it was almost as if something was bothering him. 

This is one area where they can't afford to fuck up, so naturally, Zero is concerned. 

Their routine has changed since Leah arrived. Zero has a nanny to help him with a few things, but he's around during the days he doesn't have any commitments. Jude's schedule is still busy and Zero knows that he's having a hard time adjusting. 

Like now. 

Jude's feeding Leah her bottle and his eleven lines are scrunched up in that adorable way of his. 

Leah's fussing and pushing the bottle away with her tiny hands and Jude's becoming frustrated. 

“Leah, come on…”

Jude doesn't exactly raise his voice, but Leah is perceptive. 

Zero isn't surprised by the resulting series of high pitched wails that culminate in Jude handing Leah to him and storming out angrily. 

Zero shakes his head and rocks Leah against his chest. “S’okay, baby, Daddy's just stressed that's all. He just wants you to know that he's here and that he loves you.”

The cries die down after a minute or so and Zero breathes a sigh of relief. He's read about how some babies barely cry at all but that's  _ definitely _ not the case here. Leah's louder than the annoying guy that does the announcements at the arena. 

“I  _ do _ love her.”

Jude's back in the doorway again. This seems to be their default position. Jude at a distance and Zero with Leah in his arms.

In that moment, he gets it. 

“You're having trouble bonding with her.”

Jude isn't a people person and while Leah's tiny and adorable she's still a stranger that he has to get used to. Zero's never considered that until now. 

“She's harmless, Jude. There's no rush, just take your time. You got this.”

Leah snuffles in his arms, her eyes fluttering as she yawns sleepily. She starts to fuss and Zero decides to give her back to Jude. He makes his way over to the doorway and hands her over. 

The second Jude's arms close around her, she yawns once more and settles into her nap. 

Jude doesn't seem convinced, but Zero knows that in time, he'll get used to this. 

~

The press storm begins after someone leaks a picture of Zero buying formula at the grocery store. Given that Zero is way too rich to buy his own groceries, the theory online is that it was all staged. 

Apparently, Zero and Jude are the kind of people likely to fake having a baby just for publicity. 

Jonathan laughs over a bowl of cereal. “Do people really think that y'all just come up with these staged scenarios for publicity?”

They're hanging out at the house, waiting for Jude to come back from walking Leah. 

Zero raises an eyebrow. “You're kidding, right? When I dated Jelena, the paps knew where we going before I did. It's not uncommon.”

Jonathan raises an eyebrow and shakes his head. “Guess there's a little bit of truth in everything. Where is Jude anyway?” 

“With the baby.” Zero is trying hard not to fidget because Jude said he'd be back by four and it's four thirty. What if something has happened? What if Leah's sick or hurt? His mind is going into overdrive--and why hasn't Jude called?

“Dude, relax. You look like you're about to jump out of your skin. Sit down.”

Zero does as he's told for once. He pulls his cooling cappuccino towards him and takes a sip. It's not like caffeine is going to calm his nerves, but he just needs to keep his hands occupied. 

“Do you remember that girl, Isobel? She was in the home with us.”

That's how he knows Jonathan. They met in a group home many moons ago. Zero didn't have friends back then, but they always had an understanding. Always had each others backs. 

Jonathan nods solemnly. “She and I were the only black kids at one point. I remember her crying because our dearest foster parents thought it was nice to call her names. Guess they had one for all of us. Man, I wonder what happened to her. Didn't she run away?”

Zero suddenly regrets bringing it up. There's no happy ending, the same way there wasn't for the majority of the kids that lived in that forsaken home. 

“She was chosen by a family and she went to stay with them. One day, she slipped, hit her head and that was that. It was an accident, but she was just  _ gone _ . I...sometimes I think that maybe  _ I'm  _ going to screw up. I'm going to miss a moment and something fucked up is going to happen. How do I prevent that?”

Jonathan is silent for a long time. 

“You  _ are  _ going to screw up, G, that's what being a parent is about. You screw up and you  _ learn  _ from it. You never stop learning from it.”

Before Zero can respond, there's a jangle of keys and the door opens. It takes every ounce of energy he has for him to stay seated and wait for Jude to appear with Leah. 

“The paparazzi are  _ relentless, _ ” Jude says in lieu of a greeting. “I had to call team security to pick us up once we left the park.”

Zero grins. “What can I say? The world can't get enough of Zero and his adorable family.”

Jonathan snorts. “That and strangers have weird obsessions with other people's babies.”

“How is she?” Zero asks, nodding towards the bundle in Jude's arms. 

Jude smiles softly. “She's asleep. I'm gonna go and put her upstairs.”

There’s nothing but love in Jude's eyes and Zero wonders what he was even worried about. 

~

Eventually, Zero's agent forces him to sit down with  _ People _ . He refuses to do a photoshoot with Leah because it's tacky and unnecessary, but they still want a solo interview. 

They ask him the standard questions and he gives his pre-written answers. 

The last question takes him by surprise. 

“Leah's grandparents must be excited. Have they had a chance to meet her yet?”

Zero sits there in stunned silence, unsure of how to answer. 

Truth be told, Oscar hasn't come up in relation to Leah and Jude's not on good terms with his mom. On Zero's side, he doesn't know where his parents are and Laura wants nothing to do with him. 

It only sinks in then that if something happened to Leah, they'd have absolutely nobody to leave her with. 

There's Lionel, but that thought is scary enough. 

He's only just reconnected with Jonathan and given his lifestyle, it doesn't seem ideal. 

There's literally no one.

By the time Zero reaches the house, he's spent hours going over everything. 

“I think we should reach out to your mom.”

Jude is having a relaxing evening for once and Zero hates to disturb him, but it's been bugging him and he has to get everything out now before he explodes. 

“Why would we do that? She didn't even come to our wedding, Gideon.”

At the time, Zero didn't think it was a big deal. It's not like his parents were there either. In fact most of the guest lists at their star studded wedding were only there to get exposure. It's not like it was a heartfelt event with sentimental toasts and happy tears. 

“Oscar was at our wedding and we're not even talking to him.”

Jude looks back at the television screen. He's watching Top Gear, which isn't what Zero would have chosen for a quiet night in, but that's not the issue here. 

“That's different. My mom chose not to accept  _ you  _ and that's not something I can forgive her for. That's final, Gideon.”

~

Zero's never been able to take no for answer. 

That's why he sucks up his pride and agrees to meet up with Jude's mom, Cheryl. She's tall like Jude and rocking a stylish pixie cut that frames her face in the right places. Given the expensive outfit and D&G shades she has on, Oscar is still dishing out some serious alimony pay. 

“Zero.”

Cheryl sounds like she's chewing on glass, but it's not like Zero gives a shit. 

“I'm not here to chitchat. You don't like me and if I'm being honest, I don't like you either. However, for the sake of Jude and my daughter, I'm willing to put that aside.”

Cheryl finally removes her glasses and gives Zero a reproachful look. 

“You're a family man now?”

It's not like she's the first person to doubt Zero. It's all over the blogs and boards every day. People are just watching and waiting for him to slip up. 

He couldn't care less. 

“Yeah, I am, and I don't care if you believe that or not. You owe it to Jude to be there for him. To help him out. All he did was try to build a relationship with his father. Stop punishing him.”

Cheryl frowns, and suddenly there's a chink in her armour, deep lines perforate her forehead and Zero can almost feel the tension pouring off her in waves. 

“I'll always love my son, Zero,” she tells him tearfully. “No matter what.”

Zero nods in understanding. He doesn't really get the dynamic between Jude and his mom, but he's hopeful that they can work it out. 

In the meantime…

“We're having a little get together/christening for Leah and we'd like it if you can be there.”

Cheryl's eyebrow shoots up. “Christening?”

“Yeah, but without all the religious stuff and all... I still have some repenting to do.”

She doesn't argue with that. 

~

In the end, they have a lovely service and party in honour of their daughter. 

Despite the 'all white’ dress code, Lionel shows up in a green dress because she quote-unquote 'finds them nauseating’, but Jude assures Zero that's her way of saying she's happy for them. 

Zero knows better than that, but he keeps his mouth shut. 

Derek and Ahsha show up with Rosè and Chardonnay and there's a lot of cooing over the adorableness on display. 

Zero feels his life flashing by him, snippets of memories; champagne flowing, girls grinding up on him, waking up nursing a hangover. It all feels so long ago and while it was fun, it's nothing compared to this. 

His  _ family _ . 

Speaking of family, Jude comes over to stand by the makeshift fountain his mother insisting on installing in the middle of their spacious back garden.

Zero's been watching the rivulets of water as he reflects on the whirlwind of the past year. He feels a hand on his neck and breathes in Jude's familiar scent as he turns around. 

Jude grabs his suit lapels gently and pulls him into a slow kiss. Zero's response is just as languid because he just wants to enjoy the moment. By the time they break apart, his lips are buzzing.

If they didn't have a bunch of guests around, he wouldn't hesitate to drag Jude upstairs to finish what they started. 

Luckily, Jude's always been the level-headed one. He steps back and fixes Zero's suit. 

“You know, you wanting to have a baby was like, the  _ biggest  _ curveball. When I met you, you were this notorious manwhore misusing scripture for your own shady purposes and now you're... _ my  _ husband. Leah’s father.” 

Zero doesn't take offence at the words because they're true. He was that person before. Jude knows him better than anyone, though. 

He's always known the real from the fake; always known Gideon.

“It's kind of crazy that  _ you  _ wanted to have kids. Especially after Laura didn't want to see you. I thought that you'd have run away screaming, but that was me. I was so scared. I don't even know why.”

“Maybe because I'm a reformed manwhore who knew absolutely nothing about how to be a family man?”

Jude laughs gently. “Yeah, maybe. It's just that you and I bonded because we were so messed up. We got each other and I guess I always thought it'd be  _ us.  _ Us against the world. I never thought that…”

Zero watches as Jude looks away briefly and he turns to see Cheryl holding Leah in her arms. He smiles to himself before he faces Jude again. 

“You never thought that…?”

Jude clears his throat. “I never thought that this curveball would end up being the best thing that's ever happened to us. I love Leah so much and... I think we just might be able to to do this. Raise a kid. Without fucking it up.”

Zero holds up a hand and says, “Let's not get too ahead of ourselves. A lot can happen in eighteen years.”

“I love you.” 

Jude's response doesn't really match the upbeat tone of Zero's words, but that doesn't matter. 

All that matters is them. 

“I love you too, stupid.”

-Fin-


End file.
